Safety container

ABSTRACT

A safety container for medicines and the like having a body portion closed at the bottom and opened at the top and having a plurality of longitudinally extending passages therethrough. There is a cap or closure for the open end of the body having a plurality of rods for removable insertion of the upper ends of said passages, said rods having slightly enlarged free end portions which extend into slight enlarged parts of the passages at their upper ends and a key for the lower end of the body, said key having rods extending upwardly for reception in the lower portions of said passages, said rods being of sufficient length to force the rods of the cap out of the passages when the key and the body are moved toward each other a pre-determined distance, the rods of the key having enlarged portions engagable with restricted portions of the passages to limit outward movement of the rods of the key. The key is provided with flange means slidable on the exterior of the body and positioned on the body when the key is moved to a position whereat the enlarged parts of its rods engage the restricted portions of the passages.

SAFETY CONTAINER Inventor: Alfred s. Colella, 1310 s. Glendora Ave, West Covina, Calif.

Filed: Aug. 16, 1972 Appl. No.: 281,224

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1968 Rigor ..206/1.5 10/1972 Ruekberg ..2l5/9 Primary Examiner-George T. Hall Attorney, Agent, or Firm-J. C. Baisch [57] ABSTRACT A safety container for medicines and the like having a [451 June 28, 1974 body portion closed at the bottom and opened at the top and having a plurality of longitudinally extending passages therethrough.

There is a cap or closure for the open end of the body having a plurality of rods for removable insertion of the upper ends of said passages, said rods having slightly enlarged free end portions which extend into slight enlarged parts of the passages at their upper ends and a key for the lower end of the body, said key having rods extending upwardly for reception in the lower portions of said passages, said rods being of sufficient length to force the rods of the cap out of the passages when the key and the body are moved toward each other a pre-determined distance, the rods of the key having enlarged portions engagable with restricted portions of the passages to limit outward movement of the rods of the key. The key is provided with flange means slidable on the exterior of the body and positioned on the body when the key is moved to a position whereat the enlarged parts of its rods engage the restricted portions of the passages.

11 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures z4- 2a 1 4i Z0 32 I l ZZ/l/ g/ at a i 9 5a A /40 l 421/ 20 40 A1 SAFETY CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to safety containers for medicines and the like which require a special key to open and which will minimize the danger of children opening the container and taking the contents thereof which might be very harmful or fatal should they take such medicine.

2. Description of the Prior Art There are various types of caps for containers for medicines, chemicals and the like and those of which I am aware have an inner cap that is screwed on to the container such as the externally threaded neck of bottles an outer cap rotatably disposed on the inner cap and normally disengaged therefrom so that rotation of the outer cap will not effect rotation of the inner cap. There is also a separate member for interconnecting the caps so that the inner cap may be removed upon rotation of the outer cap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has a hollow body closed at the bottom and open at the top, the body having longitudinally extending passages in the body wall, said passages being open at the top and bottom and having slightly reduced restricted end portions.

Thereis a cap for closing the opening of the body, said cap having downwardly extending rods with slight enlargements adjacent their free ends, said rods being slidably receivable in the upper ends of the passages. The restricted portions at the upper ends of the passages resist removal of the rods although said rods may be forced from the passages extending rods of a key located at the lower end of the body and movable toward and fromsaid body. The rods of the key have slight enlargements engagable with the slightly restricted portions of the passages at their lower ends when the key is at its normally extended position. The rods of the key are of sufficient length to engage the lower ends of the rods of the cap and when the key is moved toward the lower end of the body, the rods of the cap are forced out of the passages so that the cap may be removed from the body and access to the interior of the body provided.

The key also has flange means slidable on the lower end of the body and of sufficient height to conceal the space between the key and the bottom of the body when the key is at its outer most position.

When the key is at its extended or bottom most position, the cap may be attached to the body with the rods thereof extending into the upper ends of the passages. The slightly enlarged parts of the rods of the cap are disposed just below the restricted upper end portions of the passages so that said cap is very difficult to remove except with the use of the key. The enlarged parts of the rods of the key are normally limited in downward movement by the restricted part of the passages at their lower ends. If desired, the key'may be completely re moved from the body by pulling same outwardly or downwardly. Removal of the cap will be resisted by ordinary pulling on the cap.

OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a container for medicines and the like that will prevent children from opening the container or at least minimize such a possibility.

It is another object of the invention to provide a container of this character having a unique key arrangement whereby the container may be readily opened with the key.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a container of this character that is relatively simple in con- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings, which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 is aside view of a container embodying the present invention with portions broken away to show the interior construction, the cap being in the closed position;

FIG. 2 is a similar view showing the cap in its released position; l

FIG. 3 is aview of the cap taken on line 3-3 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is-a top plane view of the cap;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the body of the container with a portion broken away;

FIG. 6 is an underside view of the bottom of the con tainer; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view of the device on a reduced scale.

FIG. 8 shows the end shape of the rods.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown a safety container embodying the present invention and comprising a body 10 closed at the bottom by bottom wall 12. The opposite end is open and has an upwardly or outwardly extending neck 14 with an annular head 16 adjacent the free upper end, said neck tapering toward its free end.

While the device may be of any suitable crosssectional shape, it is shown as being square and there is a longitudinally extending passage 18 adjacent each corner. While there are four such passages which extend entirely through the body, there may be any suitable number provided. Adjacent the respective ends of the passages 18, the passages slightrestrictions or reduced diameter portions 20, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

The device has a cap, indicated generally at 22,

which has a recess 24 therein for reception of theneck 14 when the cap is in the closed position. At this time,

the bead 16 adjacent the free end of the neck is positioned within an enlargement 26 of the recess 24 and engages a shoulder 28 at the lower end of said recess. With this arrangement, the cap releasably resists removal from the body. The cap has a plurality of depending rods 30 each of which has a slight enlargement 32 adjacent their upper ends and when the cap is in the closed position, the rods are in the respective passages in the body and the enlargements 32 are at the inner side of the restrictions so that there is further releasable resistance to the removal of the cap.

A key, indicated generally at 34, is provided for removing the cap from the body, said key being hollow and having an end wall 36 from which there are up? wardly extending rods 38 slidably disposed in respective passages 18. Each of the rods 38 is provided with a slight enlargement 40 adjacent the lower end but spaced upwardly from the end wall 36 and when the rods 38 are disposed in the respective passages, the enlargements 40 are positioned inwardly of the lower restrictions 20. When the key is at its lower position, as best shown in FIG. 1, the end wall 36 of the key is spaced from the bottom wall 12 of the body as at 44 and the upper ends of rods 38 are positioned against or slightly spaced below the lower ends of the rods 30. There is a flange 46 which extends upwardly from the periphery of the end wall 36 and overlaps the lower end of the body 10, thus concealing the space 44 when the parts of the device are examined.

The combinedlength of the rods of the closure or cap and corresponding rods of the key are longer than the length of the body and in order to remove the cap 22 from the body, the device is placed on a support, not shown, and the body pressed downwardly to telescope the body and the key. This action results in pressure by the rods 38 on the ends of the rods 30 of the cap and forces the cap upwardly against the resistance of the bead l6 and the upper restrictions on the enlarged parts 32 of the rods 30 of the cap. Once the cap has thus been released, it may be entirely removed from the body. Thus, access is had to the contents of the body as disposed in the interior thereof.

In order to provide a firm grip on the body for opening the device, there are slight recesses or depressions 50 in the side walls of the body, these recesses being provided for a thumb and finger of the person wishing to gain access to the contents of the container.

Closing of the device is effected by placing the cap on the body with the rods 30 thereof disposed in the passages 18 and pressing the cap firmly onto the body. The key must be free to move downwardly when the cap is being attached to the body.

As stated above, the device may be of any suitable cross-sectional shape, although a four sided device has been found to be very satisfactory. While the free ends of the rods are shown as being flat and normal to the axis thereof, the ends of the rods of the key or the cap may be concave as shown at 52 in FIG. 8 and opposite rods have their ends convex as at 54.

With the key attached to the body, an adult may readily open the container but a child would have considerable difficulty doing so. Should it be desired to make the opening of the container very difficult, if not impossible for a child, the key may be removed and kept in a place safe from access by a child.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a permanent magnet 56 in the top wall of the cover or cap 22 and by having shelf of iron or other material to which a magnet may be magnetic, the device may be placed on the underside of such a shelf thereby providing additional room for the storage of medicines and the like. The arrangement of the bead and recess 26 for the neck and cap provides means for sealing the device against loss of liquid, for example, from the hollow interior of the body when the cap is operably positioned thereon.

It is to be understood that the various parts of the container may be of any suitable well known plastic or it may be of any suitable material. The rods of the cap and the key may be formed integrally with these parts or they may be of other material and their ends molded in the material of the closure and/or key.

While the device is particularly suited to a safety container for medicines and the like, it is also a useful container for other purposes. For example, it may be used for a container for collectors coin and the like.

The invention and its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit or scope thereof or sacrificing its material advantages, the arrangement hereinbefore described being merely by way of example and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific form shown or uses mentioned except as defined in the accompanying claims.

I claim:

1. A safety container comprising:

a hollow body closed at one end and open at the opposite end, their being a plurality of passages in said body extending from end of the body to the other;

a removable closure for said body for closing the open end thereof, said closure having a plurality of rods depending therefrom and arranged for removable insertion in upper portions of said passages;

and a key for moving the cap from the closed position, said key having an end wall and a plurality of upstanding rods arranged for slidable insertion in the passages of the body, the combined length of said rods and the respective rods of the closure being greater than the length of the body.

2. The invention defined by claim 1, including means for resisting removal of said closure.

3. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein there is an upstanding neck at the open end of said body, and there is a recess in the closure in which the neck is received.

4. The invention defined by claim 3, including means sealing the open end wherein the closure and the neck sealingly engage each other when the closure is in the closed position.

5. The invention defined by claim 4, wherein there is an annular shoulder in the cap recess and there is an annular head on the neck removably engagable with said shoulder.

6. The invention defined by claim 5, wherein the neck tapers toward its free end and the recess in the closure has a corresponding taper.

7. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the passages in the body have reduced diameter parts adjacent the upper ends and the rods of the closure have correspondingly enlarged parts which are positioned just below the reduced diameter parts of the passages so 9. The invention defined by claim 2, including a magnet at one end of the safety container.

10. The invention defined by claim 9, wherein the magnet is in the closure.

11. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the key has an upstanding flange slidable on the body. 

1. A safety container comprising: a hollow body closed at one end and open at the opposite end, their being a plurality of passages in said body extending from end of the body to the other; a removable closure for said body for closing the open end thereof, said closure having a plurality of rods depending therefrom and arranged for removable insertion in upper portions of said passages; and a key for moving the cap from the closed position, said key having an end wall and a plurality of upstanding rods arranged for slidable insertion in the passages of the body, the combined length of said rods and the respective rods of the closure being greater than the length of the body.
 2. The invention defined by claim 1, including means for resisting removal of said closure.
 3. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein there is an upstanding neck at the open end of said body, and there is a recess in the closure in which the neck is received.
 4. The invention defined by claim 3, including means sealing the open end wherein the closure and the neck sealingly engage each other when the closure is in the closed position.
 5. The invention defined by claim 4, wherein there is an annular shoulder in the cap recess and there is an annular head on the neck removably engagable with said shoulder.
 6. The invention defined by claim 5, wherein the neck tapers toward its free end and the recess in the closure has a corresponding taper.
 7. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the passages in the body have reduced diameter parts adjacent the upper ends and the rods of the closure have correspondingly enlarged parts which are positioned just below the reduced diameter parts of the passages so that resistance is provided against removal of the closure.
 8. The invention defined by claim 7 including reduced diameter portions adjacent the lower ends of said passages and correspondingly enlarged parts on the rods of the key whereby removal of the key from the body is resisted.
 9. The invention defined by claim 2, including a magnet at one end of the safety container.
 10. The invention defined by claim 9, wherein the magnet is in the closure.
 11. The invention defined by claim 1, wherein the key has an upstanding flange slidable on the body. 